Royal Rumble (2005)
Royal Rumble (2005) was the eighteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 30, 2005, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California and featured talent from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania 21) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship. Five professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from both brands. Batista, the twenty-eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating John Cena, the twenty-fifth entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Triple H won by pinfall after performing a Pedigree. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between reigning champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Kurt Angle, and Big Show, which JBL won by pinning Angle after performing a Clothesline from Hell. For the first time since The Wrestling Classic, no tag team match was featured on the card. Storylines The professional wrestling matches at Royal Rumble featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows Raw and SmackDown! with the Raw and SmackDown! brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud started on the night after SummerSlam, when Orton was kicked out of Evolution by Triple H. The following month, at Unforgiven, Triple H defeated Orton to win the World Heavyweight Championship after interference from Evolution members Batista and Ric Flair. At Survivor Series, Team Orton (Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Maven) defeated Team Triple H (Triple H, Edge, Batista, and Snitsky) in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match after Orton last eliminated Triple H. Two months later, at New Year's Revolution, Triple H won an Elimination Chamber match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship by last eliminating Orton after interference from Batista and Ric Flair. The next night on Raw, Orton defeated Batista to become the number one contender for the title at the Royal Rumble. The following week, after a verbal confrontation between the two in the arena, Triple H ambushed Orton backstage. They fought until Orton tried to use a steel chair, and Triple H fled. On the January 24 episode of Raw, Orton faced off against Ric Flair. During the match, as the referee was knocked down, Triple H came in and attacked Orton along with Flair. Orton, however, fought off both men and won the match. The main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), The Big Show, and Kurt Angle, with the three feuding over the WWE Championship. On the December 16, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, Angle challenged JBL to a match for the WWE Championship. The Cabinet (Orlando Jordan, Doug, and Danny Basham) interfered and attacked Angle, causing the match to end via disqualification. They continued to attack Angle after the match until The Big Show came out, beat down everyone, and signaled to JBL that he wanted the title. In the weeks that followed, a triple threat match for the title between the three was booked for the Royal Rumble. Following this, JBL set up Angle to anger The Big Show, but Angle angered JBL in response. After realizing this, JBL aligned himself with The Big Show and confronted Angle; however, JBL turned on Big Show and beat him down with Angle. On the January 27 episode of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long booked a Last Man Standing match between JBL and Angle for later that night. The two eventually turned on each other, and the match ended in a no contest. It was later revealed that the match was Big Show's idea. Another feud heading into the event from SmackDown! was between The Undertaker and Heidenreich. Their feud first started in 2004 at No Mercy, the pay-per-view in October. Heidenreich helped John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defeat Undertaker in a Last Ride match by attacking Undertaker and putting him in the hearse. At Survivor Series, Undertaker defeated Heidenreich after executing a Tombstone Piledriver. At Armageddon, Heidenreich once again cost The Undertaker the WWE Championship against JBL after interfering in a fatal four-way match that involved Booker T and Eddie Gurrerro, allowing JBL to pin Booker T after a Clothesline From Hell. SmackDown's General Manager Theodore Long let The Undertaker name the stipulation for his match against Heidenreich at Royal Rumble. As Heidenreich mentioned his fear of caskets, Undertaker chose to face him in a casket match for Royal Rumble. A preliminary Raw brand feud was between Shawn Michaels and Edge. Their feud started at Taboo Tuesday when Michaels was voted over Edge and Chris Benoit to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship while Edge and Benoit were put into a World Tag Team Championship match against La Résistance. Edge abandoned Benoit during the match and returned later that night to cost Michaels his title match against Triple H. At New Year's Revolution, Edge competed in an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship with Michaels as the special guest referee. During the match, Edge accidentally speared Michaels, resulting in Michaels performing Sweet Chin Music on Edge, who would be eliminated by Chris Jericho. The following night on Raw, a confrontation between Edge and Michaels ended in the two men brawling around the arena. A match between the two was then booked for the Royal Rumble. Aftermath The following weeks on Raw surrounded Batista's choice of which champion to face at WrestleMania 21. Triple H devised a scheme to have Batista almost run over by a limousine resembling John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s, so Batista would challenge JBL instead of himself. Batista became aware of the scheme and chose to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, thus leaving the Evolution stable in the process. He won the title, and their feud continued until he was drafted to SmackDown! on June 30. Batista remained champion until the January 13, 2006, episode of SmackDown! when he vacated the title due to injury. John Cena went on to win a tournament to become the number one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21. The tournament concluded in a match between him and Kurt Angle at No Way Out, which Cena won after performing an FU. Following this, he began an angle with JBL. Cena defeated JBL to win the title at WrestleMania, and their feud ended after Cena retained the title in an "I Quit" match at Judgment Day. Cena would then go to hold on to the title until New Year's Revolution 2006 when Edge cashed in the Money in the Bank contract he won at Wrestlemania 21 and defeat Cena after an Elimination Chamber match. Following the Royal Rumble, Randy Orton and Kurt Angle began feuding with The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, respectively. The Big Show faced JBL in the first ever barbed wire steel cage match for the title at No Way Out, which JBL won to retain the title. Orton briefly feuded with Christian before moving on to feud with The Undertaker, which spanned nine months. After losing his title match at No Way Out, The Big Show faced Akebono in a sumo match at WrestleMania, and he briefly feuded with Carlito afterwards. Results Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Royal Rumble Category:Royal Rumble Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2005 Pay-Per-View Events